A Danish-Bahraini human rights activists Maryam Al-Khawaja will be travelling back to the Bahrain next week to put her own life on the line and pressure the government to save her detained father Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja.
“Today marks one month since the beginning of the largest mass #hungerstrike by political prisoners in #Bahrain, – and I am announcing that I will be traveling there next week to try and save my imprisoned father’s life. #FreeAlKhawaja #DKPol #Solidarity,” Maryam Al-Khawaja posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, September 7.
Abdulhadi Abdulla Hubail Al-Khawaja, an internationally recognized and award-winning human rights defender, a dual citizen of Denmark and Bahrain, was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment on June 22, 2011.
Bahrain convicted him on internationally criticized terrorism charges.
Al-Khawaja is said to have been physically, psychologically and sexually abused and severely tortured. He suffered many fractures to his jaw and underwent several operations; he experiences chronic pain and requires additional intervention as he has not healed properly.
Since August 7, a total of 804 inmates in a Bahrain prison, including Al-Khawaja, have been on hunger strike over conditions there.
Al-Khawaja is no stranger to hunger strikes, his longest hunger strike lasted for 110 days in 2012.
“I am going back to prison in Bahrain next week. I know that going back means that I might end up spending the rest of my life in prison, but I’m doing so because I feel like I have no other options left,” Maryam said in a video posted on X.
However, she was accused of charges in Bahrain, including what she described as vague terrorism charges that could carry a life sentence.
“My father has a heart condition which means that the hunger strike puts him at further risk of a heart attack or a stroke at any time. And I can no longer sit around and wait for that call that tells me that my father has died in prison.”
Maryam continued, “I am attempting to go back to try and raise pressure, attention around his case and the case of 800 polotical prisoners in Bahrain, who are currently on hunger strike as well.
“I call on government of Denmark to do more to save her father’s life and I call on all of you to stand in solidarity with us, to pressure the Danish, US, UK government or any of the governments in the EU to step up and do more and to put pressure on the Bahraini government to do the right thing,” she concluded.
